SRKindredSpirits

We've lived in this house for over 13 years and while making over the pantry has always been on the to-do list, it never quite got to the top......  Up until now, my food storage consisted of: Kitchen cupboard - snacks, drink mixes, and cereal China hutch bottom - Shaklee Life Shakes , protein bars, and vitamins A big boxy thing on one side of a coat closet - dry goods and canned food Shelves in the garage - home canned food and extra canning jars Garage floor - pop, and water bottles It was all use able.... just not ideal.  The problem was that I had food in 5 different places, and I couldn't find anything in the big boxy thing, because everything always fell over and I couldn't see what I had. It was frustrating. Here's a pic of the closet/pantry before. It also had the sweeper, cleaning things, coats, shoes, hats and other random stuff in it. I wanted to make the whole closet into a pantry, so I could have all the food in one place, ...

Recipe 1 1/2 cup cauliflower florets 1 1/2 cup dried macaroni 1/4 cup butter, 3 Tbsp flour 1 tsp mustard powder 2 1/2 cups whole milk Pinch of cayenne pepper Sea salt, to taste 1 1/2 cup mature cheddar cheese, grated 1 1/2 cup colby jack cheese, grated 1 1/2 cup havarti cheese, grated 3 Tbsp breadcrumbs Sprinkle of thyme leaves Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the cauliflower and cook for 5 minutes or til tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and refresh in a bowl of ice-cold water to prevent it from cooking any further. Drain well. Put the macaroni into the boiling salted water and cook according to packet instructions. Drain, refresh under cold, running water and drain again. Mix the macaroni, cauliflower and a bit of butter together in a large bowl. Preheat the oven to 350* F.  Heat the rest of the butter in a pan, and stir in the flour and mustard powder to make a roux. Gradually add the milk, beating continuousl...

Sometimes you just have to say goodbye to toxic people. To detach. A family member, who is a toxic person, will take advantage of the fact that you are family – a bond that is supposed to be enduring, loving, and respectful – to manipulate and hurt you, because we are conditioned to believe that if we end relationships with them, that we are “bad” and no one wants to be or feel like they are an inherently bad person. Toxic extended family members cause a lot of stress. It is hard work just to be around them. Many times you are always on edge, cautious, trying to live up to their ideals, yet always failing. Their manipulation, drama, neediness, criticism, jealousy, and other negative traits drain you emotionally and make you feel bad about yourself. All of these things affect your health both directly and indirectly. We spend years sacrificing our mental and emotional health in abusive relationships under the notion that we “have to” because these people are our fam...

Our youngest daughter has been wanting a hamster for a few years now, and since we got rid of all the animals this past year, I thought it would be the perfect Christmas gift. And since we try to practice a somewhat minimalist lifestyle and the kids always end up with too many gifts, I thought a hamster would be the perfect gift... something she wanted, something small, it would help teach her more responsibility, it is relatively quiet, and it would have no toys to add to the clutter! I should have questioned the idea when the new cage came 2 weeks before Christmas and it wasn't the right size...  I had to buy a different stand for it to set on, so that was an extra $40, but I thought we'd make do.... it just takes up more space and it don't look near as neat as the last hamster cage I made out of a bookcase a few years back.... Then I went all out buying new water bottles, running wheels, snacks, food, running ball, bedding, treats, chew toys, etc.... it ended...

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.”  -Thomas Merton It seems so often in life, things get out of balance. Health, finances/money, relationships, work, play, decorating, time, church, social media, electronics, etc. Most of us live a life that is far out of balance – putting the things that are not as important first, or letting them tip the scales too far in one direction. And like I tell my kids, "Too much of a good thing is not a good thing!" Everything is good in moderation and balance. The definition of what balance means to each of us is different, but there are some universal truths. For instance: each us needs a healthy work and life balance to be truly healthy and happy, and our mind, and soul must be in balance to truly be at peace, and to live a life of harmony.  "Follow the laws of Nature and you’ll never go wrong"  - Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee  Living in Harmony with Nature means bringi...